Global payment giant Visa (NASDAQ: V) will now support four new stablecoins on its payments platform as interest in the fiat-pegged tokens soars.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s central bank says private issuers of won-backed stablecoins may land in a financial crisis and wants licensed local banks to take the lead in issues.
Visa dives further into stablecoins
Speaking under one fourth quarter results CEO Ryan McInerney revealed that Visa has seen a 400% increase in spending on Visa cards linked to stablecoins year over year.
Positive regulations have provided the biggest tailwind for stablecoin adoption. The approved in the GENIUS Act in the US has had the biggest impact, giving retailers the confidence to dive into stablecoins. Visa has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the increased traction due to its large payments network.
The California-based company is now doubling its size stablecoin strategysays McInerney.
“We are adding support for four stablecoins, running on four unique blockchains, representing two currencies, which we can accept and convert to over 25 traditional fiat currencies,” he told investors.
Since its initial engagement in 2020, Visa has facilitated over $140 billion in “crypto” and stablecoin transfers, he added. Of this, $100 billion went to buying digital assets, while the rest was to payment of goods and services. Today, the company offers stablecoin support in 40 countries through over 130 card programs, the CEO revealed.
Visa’s increasing investment in stablecoins could revive its stock, whose growth has lagged in 2025, said Chicago-based investment banker William Blair. Since the turn of the year, the share price has risen just 8.5%, lagging behind other financial heavyweights, which have averaged over 20% growth year-to-date.
William Blair analysts say the stablecoin integration will position Visa as one of the key players in the new financial order.
“The real stablecoin opportunity is cross-border payments, in our view. Stablecoins can greatly lower the cost of cross-border B2B commerce, speed up settlement and reduce errors,” the analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Currently, cross-border payments make up less than 20% of Visa’s transaction volume, but with stablecoins, this could skyrocket, they added.
Visa will face stiff competition in stablecoin-powered cross-border transfers from incumbents that have launched similar products. The latest is Western Union (NASDAQ: WU), which announced a week ago that it is testing stablecoin payments for its remittance services.
Korea’s won-pegged stablecoins buffer the risk
In South Korea, the central bank has warned that won-pegged stablecoins face depeg risk and wants commercial banks to take the lead in emission.
In a recent Reportthe Bank of Korea (BOK) defended its rules and the pace of its implementation. As for the “crypto” industry claims that Korea needs to win stablecoins or that it risks a threat to its monetary sovereignty from US dollar alternatives, the apex bank described it as “exaggerated marketing rhetoric.”
The BOK’s defense of its conservative stance comes at a time when some key leaders in Korea and beyond have called for won-pegged stablecoins to preserve the country’s monetary sovereignty.
The latest is Michael Casey, senior advisor at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative. Speaking at an event in Gyeongju on Thursday, Casey warned that South Korea could cede additional ground to the USD if it lags in approving local stablecoins.
“If there are no stable coins based on a country’s own currency, the use of dollar-based stable coins will increase, and the dominance of the dollar will be strengthened. If this happens, the monetary sovereignty of countries can be seriously undermined,” he said.
In addition to monetary sovereignty, the regulator further warned that won stablecoins also constitute a significant threats to financial stability in the East Asian country. It noted that while the technology underlying the tokens may be secure, the currency “works not on technology, but on trust.”
“When discussing won-denominated stablecoins, which aspire to become a new currency, the first question asked is not ‘Is the technology feasible?’ but ‘Is trust possible?'” it said.
South Korea is no stranger to stablecoin collapses. The biggest industry disaster – Terraform’s UST algorithmic stablecoin – was developed by two Koreans: To Kwon and Daniel Shin.
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